The Nine
Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam's intellect becomes Hannah's life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam's acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices. When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother's close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom--until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery. Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of a young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules--even if it means jeopardizing his mother's hopes and dreams.
Product Details
Price
$17.95
Publisher
She Writes Press
Publish Date
August 20, 2019
Pages
328
Dimensions
5.5 X 8.4 X 1.0 inches | 0.85 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781631526527
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About the Author
Jeanne Blasberg is an award-winning author and essayist. Her novel The Nine (SWP 2019) was honored with the Foreword Indies Gold Award in Thriller & Suspense and the Gold Medal and Juror's Choice in the National Indie Excellence Awards. Eden (SWP 2017), her debut, won the Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for Best New Voice in Fiction and was a finalist for the Sarton Women's Book Award for Historical Fiction. Her most recent novel, Daughter of a Promise (SWP 2024) is a modern retelling of the legend of David and Bathsheba, completing the thematic trilogy she began with Eden and The Nine. Jeanne cochairs the board of the Boston Book Festival and serves on the Executive Committee of GrubStreet, one of the country's preeminent creative writing centers. Jeanne was named a Southampton Writers Conference BookEnds Fellow in April 2021. She reviews contemporary fiction for the New York Journal of Books, When not in New England, she splits her time between Park City, UT, and growing organic vegetables in Verona, Wisconsin.
Reviews
2020 14th Annual Indie Excellence Juror's Choice Award
2020 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Award-Winner in Contemporary Novel
2020 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in Regional Fiction: Northeast
2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Finalist in Fiction - General
2020 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Literary
2020 Best Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Literary
2019/2020 Reader Views Literary Awards 2nd Place Winner in General Fiction/Novel
2019 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner for Thriller & Suspense (Adult Fiction)
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Literary Fiction
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Regional Fiction: Northeast
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Finalist in General Fiction
2019 Foreword INDIES Finalist in Adult Fiction: Thriller & Suspense "The Nine uncovers the underbelly of an elite private school, revealing decades-long corruption, while also exposing how the fervent dreams of mothers for their children can shatter families. Jeanne Blasberg delves with unflinching precision into the chasms between parents and children, a novel revelatory for the author's willingness to scrutinize both mother and son and their stifling bond."
--Randy Susan Meyers, bestselling author of The Widow of Wall Street and Waisted "The Nine is one of those suspenseful, highly addictive novels that keep you saying, "just one more chapter" until suddenly you've stayed up all night to finish it. Hannah and Sam--the tenacious, devoted mother and her humble, endearing son--make an irresistible team as they take on the dark narcissism and systemic exploitation of an elite world that attempts to break them. I love this book's iconoclastic impulse and its ultimate faith in the values of work over privilege, and love over loyalty."
--Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men "Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg's compelling new novel, The Nine, is a complex and beautifully wrought tale of the sacrifices parents and children make to join the ranks of the elite, and the shocking secrets they find once they get there. It will surely be catnip for book groups--Dead Poets Society crossed with a conspiracy thriller, with a helicopter mom's midlife crisis thrown in for good measure--and it'll keep the reader turning pages as fast as she can."
--Holly LeCraw, author of The Swimming Pool and The Half Brother "...A poignant mother-son drama....In fluid prose, Blasberg combines two tales through two alternating voices."
--Kirkus Reviews "The Nine . . . delivers a tightly plotted tale that taps the vein of secret terror every first-time parent harbors when sending a child on their own into the world. With devastating precision, Blasberg mines the insecurity, the denial, the projected hope, and ambition of a mother singularly devoted to her only child--played against revelations of dark doings at an elite prep school. . . . A painful, beautiful book."
--Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Even in Darkness and Hard Cider "Blasberg moves seamlessly between . . . points of view. . . . A good choice for fans of thoughtful coming-of-age dramas."
--Booklist "School scandals and the fragile bond between a boy and his mother give The Nine a wide-ranging appeal that extends beyond its ivy-clad setting."
--Clarion Reviews
2020 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Award-Winner in Contemporary Novel
2020 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in Regional Fiction: Northeast
2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Finalist in Fiction - General
2020 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Literary
2020 Best Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Literary
2019/2020 Reader Views Literary Awards 2nd Place Winner in General Fiction/Novel
2019 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner for Thriller & Suspense (Adult Fiction)
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Literary Fiction
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Regional Fiction: Northeast
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Finalist in General Fiction
2019 Foreword INDIES Finalist in Adult Fiction: Thriller & Suspense "The Nine uncovers the underbelly of an elite private school, revealing decades-long corruption, while also exposing how the fervent dreams of mothers for their children can shatter families. Jeanne Blasberg delves with unflinching precision into the chasms between parents and children, a novel revelatory for the author's willingness to scrutinize both mother and son and their stifling bond."
--Randy Susan Meyers, bestselling author of The Widow of Wall Street and Waisted "The Nine is one of those suspenseful, highly addictive novels that keep you saying, "just one more chapter" until suddenly you've stayed up all night to finish it. Hannah and Sam--the tenacious, devoted mother and her humble, endearing son--make an irresistible team as they take on the dark narcissism and systemic exploitation of an elite world that attempts to break them. I love this book's iconoclastic impulse and its ultimate faith in the values of work over privilege, and love over loyalty."
--Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men "Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg's compelling new novel, The Nine, is a complex and beautifully wrought tale of the sacrifices parents and children make to join the ranks of the elite, and the shocking secrets they find once they get there. It will surely be catnip for book groups--Dead Poets Society crossed with a conspiracy thriller, with a helicopter mom's midlife crisis thrown in for good measure--and it'll keep the reader turning pages as fast as she can."
--Holly LeCraw, author of The Swimming Pool and The Half Brother "...A poignant mother-son drama....In fluid prose, Blasberg combines two tales through two alternating voices."
--Kirkus Reviews "The Nine . . . delivers a tightly plotted tale that taps the vein of secret terror every first-time parent harbors when sending a child on their own into the world. With devastating precision, Blasberg mines the insecurity, the denial, the projected hope, and ambition of a mother singularly devoted to her only child--played against revelations of dark doings at an elite prep school. . . . A painful, beautiful book."
--Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Even in Darkness and Hard Cider "Blasberg moves seamlessly between . . . points of view. . . . A good choice for fans of thoughtful coming-of-age dramas."
--Booklist "School scandals and the fragile bond between a boy and his mother give The Nine a wide-ranging appeal that extends beyond its ivy-clad setting."
--Clarion Reviews
